


Won't Back Down, Can't Stay Away

by morganoconner



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Friendship, M/M, Pre-Slash, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-27
Updated: 2012-06-27
Packaged: 2017-11-08 17:12:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/445548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morganoconner/pseuds/morganoconner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce should have learned by now that Tony never does anything the way he should.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Won't Back Down, Can't Stay Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wolfling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfling/gifts).



> My first attempt at these characters, but hopefully not my last. :)

Waking up after an incident is never exactly pleasant. Usually it's like being shocked with a live wire – instant, intense, jolting. Fighting to catch his breath while wondering _where_ and _why_ and _how long_ and _oh god what did I do this time_.

Waking up now isn't like that, though. This time, waking is a slow process, like swimming through a vat of warm honey (and if he's suddenly thinking of the Winnie the Pooh cartoons he used to watch with his niece when she was very small, well, no one else ever has to know about it). His body feels pleasantly weighed down, and his worries, for the moment, are blissfully silent.

The only reason he can tell there was an incident at all, at first, is because he has all the normal aches and pains that come along with having his skin and bones and muscles rip and crack their way through an entirely new body and back again. He's also on a surface too hard to be his bed, although he's fairly certain it's at least carpeted, which is a few steps above the dirty streets of Manhattan, at least.

"Morning, sunshine."

The voice is right by Bruce's ear, a warm breath moving over his sensitive skin, and even if he was drugged to the gills he'd recognize it as Tony. No one else's voice makes him shiver like that. "Wha…" Talking still seems to be beyond him, and he doesn't even try opening his eyes. The weight that's draped over him – weight he now recognizes as an arm – tightens briefly, and Tony shifts to nuzzle at his shoulder.

"Accident," Tony tells him, answering his unspoken question. "Tempers were high, fighting was happening, someone shoved someone else, and then…Hulk."

Bruce should have expected something like this. It's only been a few weeks that everyone's been here under one roof, and that's a lot of big personalities to crush together and just expect everything to be perfect immediately. And Bruce's control is still a bit tattered from Loki's manipulation. He should have been ready, should have –

"Stop it," Tony says, poking him none-too-gently.

"Ow," Bruce mumbles. He still hasn't opened his eyes, isn't ready to see what destruction he wrought this time. "S'anyone hurt?"

"No." Tony's hand brushes over his chest, across his heart, presses there as he repeats the word. " _No_. I promise. They took off as soon as you hulked out, and JARVIS locked down the room once they were clear. All exactly like we planned for with those 'just-in-case' rules you stuck on the fridge."

Bruce's brow furrows, his mind now working overtime. "If the room was locked down, then –"

"Rogers wasn't happy when he realized I was still in here," Tony says, and damn it, damn _him_ , Bruce can _hear_ the grin in his voice. "It was fun, watching him shout at me through vibranium-enforced glass. I think he forgot it was soundproof."

Bruce does open his eyes now, because he needs to be able to see Tony, to ask him just what the hell he was thinking. Bruce is out of his mind when he's the hulk; he could have _killed_ Tony and never even known it until after, until there was no chance to –

"You think even louder than I do," Tony grumbles, peering up at him, tapping his fingers against Bruce's chest. "I didn't know that was possible."

"You…you stupid, idiotic, reckless…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a moron, moving on." Tony rolls his eyes, head flopping down again to rest against Bruce's shoulder, and Bruce realizes suddenly that he should be moving, putting some distance between them, but he can't seem to make his body listen to his brain. Tony, meanwhile, loops his arm around Bruce and hugs him tightly, like a giant teddy bear, thwarting any escape he might have been able to make. "The big guy gets scared being trapped, I wasn't about to leave him to fend for himself until he calmed down. Besides, get it through that thick head of yours, Dr. Banner. I trust you. _Both_ of you."

There are things Bruce should say, arguments he should be making, logic he should be knocking into Tony with his fists if it's the only way to get through to him. But right now, there are tears behind his closed eyes and a lump lodged in his throat, and the only thing he's really capable of doing is pressing his face into Tony's hair and wrapping both arms around him and holding on as tightly as he possibly can. Wondering how on earth he ever inspires the kind of faith Tony has had in him since the day they met.


End file.
